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Some areas of upstate NY are like rural PA in that regard, more so the ones within Appalachia I would guess. But Ulster County has a huge hippie population, that's where Woodstock is located. My uncle is a hippie and he lived there for a while, and the area doesn't seem rednecky to me.
And the cities in upstate NY are definitely left leaning, and they tend to be pretty urban. Albany even has high rise apartment buildings that I find to be characteristic of NYC.
Forgot about the hippies, but now that you mention it, when I go hiking in the New Paltz area (2-3 times per year maybe, I go a lot) we see lots of tie dye shops and stuff in "downtown" New Paltz. Also a lot of yuppie restaurants. You'd almost think you were in a gentrified neighborhood in an outer borough...
A lot of westchester towns are like that now, such as Peekskill. Not hippies, but yuppies.
Reminds me of the old saying, "out of sight, out of mind."
Think a lot of folks complain when they feel that their political representatives aren't listening to them because the state capital is x-amount of miles from them. Sometimes it can be true too as the reps seem to get so wrapped up in other more local events in and around the capital.
As another poster stated, there's people outside of NY that have this idea that NYS is only that of NYC. When I went to another doctor after we moved away, he was surprised that I didn't talk like I was from there. It's not really enough to say that you're from NY., you must immediately differentiate. I don't believe I would have had that same experience if I said Rhode Island, or Connecticut, or some other state unless the doctor was from that state and then they might ask where exactly. Oh well, makes life interesting
NYC and upstate are vastly different worlds. Different lifestyles, attitudes, economics, politics, etc.. But that's not uncommon between the urban and rural areas of states, especially were the urban areas are affluent.
The city hates upstate and upstate hates the city.
You only have to go like 90-120 minutes upstate until you start seeing a billion "repeal the SAFE act" signs and literal confederate flags, in new york state, on pickup trucks in front of trailers. Seems pretty alien to me. A lot of the upstate areas I've been to are like Pennsyltucky... (ulster county, greene county... actually, I havne't been farther than that, except a few times near the Quebec border but I only drove through other places, so I shouldn't really judge the WHOLE rest of the state)
You can drive to Gerritsen Beach and see confederate flags.
I love visiting upstate. I could not live there though as much as I love being outdoors. Most places have rundown downtowns and the bigger cities are usually college towns. Lots and lots of poverty. And most places don't have a lot to do. One of the guys who works in the parks asked us to take him with us back to the city because there is nothing going on in most of these places.
I have camped all over the state. I wish the Adirondacks wasn't a minimum four hour drive. The best campgrounds are in the Adirondacks. I just went on my last trip of the season and what a perfect weekend for it.
I'm not a big fan of going all the way west but I do enjoy the Finger Lakes. Different vibe than the Adirondacks but enjoyable all the same. New York has some fantastic parks.
NYC and upstate are vastly different worlds. Different lifestyles, attitudes, economics, politics, etc.. But that's not uncommon between the urban and rural areas of states, especially were the urban areas are affluent.
Unfortunately, there is so much of the population in the NYC metro area it really dictates to the entire state. That has happened in many states today, where the big metro area, or areas control the politics of the entire state often to the dissatisfaction of many who have different views than the big city types.
Unfortunately, there is so much of the population in the NYC metro area it really dictates to the entire state. That has happened in many states today, where the big metro area, or areas control the politics of the entire state often to the dissatisfaction of many who have different views than the big city types.
Well, the state senate is majority Republican, so there is some balance.
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